A light to love, a cable-management system to loathe - Cloud Defensive REIN 3.0 Full Size Weapon Light

Cloud Defensive's are the only weapon-lights I put on my long-guns. I own numerous OWLs and a single REIN Micro, the latter of which I operate via a tail-cap switch. In early December 2023, I purchased a REIN 3.0 for my LMT MARS piston rifle. It was my intention to run subject light via the included remote-switch, the design of which looks good on paper. For purpose of better protecting the cable by which the light and remote-switch are joined, I purchased, also, a Torrent Offset MLOK mount.

Mating the light to the mount was a straightforward operation; as was attaching the mount to the rifle's hand-guard. Contrariwise, the business of cable-management proved a nightmarish exercise in frustration and futility.

I'm a reasonably-good amateur gunsmith. Moreover, I own a comprehensive collection of tools germane to the building, alteration, and maintenance of modern firearms. Notwithstanding the aforementioned, innumerable viewings of Cloud Defensive's instructional YouTube videos, and an afternoon of careful, deliberate effort, I wound up with a broken cable and a gutful of indignity.

In the end, I limped back to the Cloud Defensive website, ordered a $45 tail-cap switch for my $400 light, and resolved to run the REIN 3.0 as I run the REIN Micro. The light is now saddled-up on the LMT and working nicely. Certainly, I could have slapped the remote-switch onto the host-rifle's 1913-rail, secured the excess length of cable with a zip-tie, and called the job finished. Alas, that inelegant solution occasions a snagging-hazard offensive to my tactical sensibilities.

By way of positives, the REIN 3.0 throws superb light comprising a bright-but-not-overly-so hot-spot and generous spill-over (flood). Additionally, color-fidelity under illumination is outstanding.

It's not my intention to disparage the REIN 3.0. It's a thoughtfully-engineered, beautifully-manufactured, eminently-capable weapon-light--the best on the contemporary market, in my opinion. That said, CD's REIN series lacks the end-of-the-world toughness by which the company's OWL model was characterized. While I don't doubt the REIN 3.0 will serve me well for years to come, I'll forever tacitly rue the OWLs discontinuation and look upon the REIN 3.0 as useful compromise.